171 Comments

Face it, the writing is on the face…or wall, the Un-Fair Campaign is a complete joke and failure. Any further effort to shove this loser down the throats of Duluthians will only be an attempt by the organizers to save face…

A campaign is supposed to inspire citizens to act and achieve a favorable action. All this does is make us wonder how we’re supposed to treat each other. The vast majority of us already treat each other exactly how we should. A campaign like this isn’t going to fix the behavior of stupid people. I for one will not be meaner to light-skinned folks and nicer to darker-skinned ones just to satisfy the needs of the campaign. I also won’t be writing anything on my face because that’s what little kids do. Instead, I’m going to treat everyone how they deserve to be treated based on the fact that they are a member of the human race.

Exactly right!!! Writing on their faces is something a pre-schooler would do. So that is the mentality of the campaign organizers? Tells you a lot about why the campaign isn’t working and in fact is hurting us. Pre-schooler mentality telling us we are wrong? Perhaps the campaign organizers and sponsors should look in the mirror to see what is wrong.

You missed the point. The whole campaign isn’t about us, but about what the campaign organizers appear to be doing. They don’t care if it succeeds or not, because it’s all about appearances. They can’t be bigots if they sponsor such a campaign, can they? Or are they only doing it to look good in the eyes of others.

I still think it was extra awesome when the white supremacists came to town to spread their doctrine of peace and love but all the moral majority was out there waiting for them, spewing venom and assaulting them with snowballs. Double standards are FUN!

The double standard is that everyone expects the white supremacists to spew hate but in their quest for a peaceful protest, the moral majority decided to spew their hate while the assaulting them with snowballs. It seems it’s ok for the moral majority to promote hatred but not ok for the white supremacists. In my book, their actions earned tear gas, rubber bullets, pepper spray, being thumped with billy clubs and hauled to jail to be thrown in with the crazies and harder criminals.

I dunno… this monolithic moral majority that you speak of may have had a single standard: “racism is bad, mmmmmkay?” You might want to get into discussing whether white supremacists are necessarily racists, but that’d be rather pedantic.

If the case is that this moral majority is opposed to racism, then opposition to white supremacists would not represent the expression of a double standard. On the other hand, if there had been some black supremacists one block over and the majority had left them alone while messing with the white fellows, that’d be a double standard.

I think it would have been better to drive them out by using logic and reason to show how terrible their ideas are, but they didn’t give anyone that opportunity. They chose the venue, and specifically refused the offer of an open dialogue where they could speak safely. They refused the dialogue because their message sucks, and they knew that if people were allowed to criticize them, everyone would see how wrong they are. They knew that people like you would see them being persecuted, and you might think “Hey! People are being mean to them. I’m going to be open minded and listen to what they have to say.” They know they have a much better chance of convincing you if they don’t have to deal with dissenting opinions.

You probably don’t fall for it when minorities play the victim, but you’ve completely fallen for it with the white supremecists. You’ve let your resentment towards the Unfair Campaign cloud your judgement. That is on you, not them.

In both cases, a rational-minded person should look beyond their tactics, and listen to the actual message they’re spreading.

I agree that they have not done a good job of getting their message out. Saying something is “Unfair” is completely subjective. I like Louis C.K.’s take: “If you are white, you have it better than non-whites. If you are white and don’t think you do, you are an a**hole.”

The whole program was started by a bunch of white guilters and has been exacerbated by the covert racism of the left. So what do yo expect from a bunch of wannabe social(ist?) engineers with too much time on their hands. If they were truly concerned with correcting what they see as racial inequities, they’ve done a remarkable job of reinforcing discord among the races.

Right. Lets talk about (for the sake of brevity lets call it) black privilege. Blacks have been force fed privileges not available to whites in the form of Affirmative Action for 40 years and minimum quotas in employment and higher education. Look at what blacks have done with those advantages: Extremely high unemployment, disproportionate representation in the prison population, drop out rates higher than any other demographic group, disproportionate percentage on welfare and food stamps. Yup, black privilege has been squandered and now blacks are jealous of what whites can do even without the extra advantage of affirmative action and quotas. That’s what this campaign is all about: Squandered opportunity and the resultant jealousy. Hey maybe it has something to do with putting forth a little more effort in getting a good education. The campaign organizers wanted backlash by starting this juvinile campaign…now they are getting it.

Conspicuously absent among all the things we do and give to unprivileged minorities is a work ethic, and a sense of accountability toward society in general. Since the Great Society, we’ve conditioned those that receive aid to be wholly and utterly dependent upon gov’t for their every need and desire, stifling the one thing that will aid in lifting them out of poverty more than anything else, a sense of self worth. Now, after decades of being “kept”, and deprived of the self worth that work and industry breeds in an individual, we must denigrate those who did work, and are industrious, and accuse them of being the beneficiaries of “privilege”. The left screwed things up 50 years ago, and now to cover their tracks, they pull white privilege out of their posteriors as the root cause of their failed programs.

Did I say that? No. I said the Great Society. Either you are too young to remember that failed program started by LBJ, or just naive. The civil rights movement was actually opposed by LBJ and the southern democrats.

Vune, take the time and educate yourself on LBJ’s “Great Society” program(s). Discussing it with you is a waste of time until you know what you’re talking about. Why am I not surprised that you weren’t taught about some of the Left’s greatest embarrassments and failed social programs while in school.

I have educated myself about the Great Society program. I just quoted you some of their landmark achievements.

Calling the Great Society a failure is a controversial statement. I think it says a lot that you refuse to back up this statement with any facts. You’d rather just complain about white guilt, and call me uneducated & naive if I can’t understand how obviously correct you are.

I work two jobs, and I don’t have time to rehash the progress of the last 50 years just to figure out what you might be talking about.

It is clear that certain peoples have a desire to be “kept” like pets and have their needs provided by someone else whereas other peoples desire to work and enjoy the fruits of their labors. Personally I grew up poor but had the desire for a good education instilled in me by my family, not by “community efforts”. With a good education I was able to work and benefit to my maximum capability. Realize that someone else with exactly the same education could have probably achieved better results than I, but that is what differentiates us. Not all people have the same abilities but to reach you maximum potential you need that education. There (their desire or lack of desire for an education) is where members of certain cultures fail while other cultures excel. Trying to play the white guilt game will not change an inbred cultural failing.

The campaign gives me warm fuzzies. I feel much better about the flash mob thefts, skyrocketing violence in major cities, and the huge steps backwards we have taken as a whole lately in race relations. Now I know that I am the problem because of the color of my skin. Thanks for showing me who is to blame.

Gee, calling me racist is a GREAT way of raising awareness of racism! I learn by example! See me learn I am a racist! See me get offended! See me lash out! Woo hoo!!.

THIS CAMPAIGN IS COMPLETELY STUPID. Calling people, of whatever shade of brown, even very very light brown, names will not decrease racism. It will continue racial stereotypes and therefore perpetuate racism. DUH. Sounds like they want more white guilt. Yeah, that is working great so far.

You people would do well to actually talk about how we are similar and not so much about our differences. If you want people to get along, then calling names is NOT how to do that.

I am ashamed to be living here. And not because of our perceived racial problems. But because of idiot racists like you.

The problem with this line of B.S. is – even if we accept their premise, what in the world are we supposed to do about it? We can’t change our skin color and history. What EXACTLY are they calling on us to do? Be nice? I already am nice.

That’s all. You don’t have to agree with what they’re saying, or actually do anything, just read an article and try to understand it.

It’s 16 pages, and it’s likely that you’ll think it’s 100% propaganda. Even I think a lot of it is sentimental BS, and there are very few hard facts (if any). Still, it does a good job of refuting a lot of the standard arguments made all over this thread. You’re smart enough not to be brainwashed by one article, and at the very least, it will help you understand how the people behind the Unfair Campaign think.

Unfortunately, this is in .doc format instead of PDF, so you can only read it if you have Microsoft Word. It’s also a way less secure format, and a savvy web user should recognize that you don’t just download a word document from a source that you don’t trust.

If you actually can’t read it (like, if you don’t have Microsoft Word or OpenOffice, or some other word processor that reads .doc files), or if you refuse to download it because you think I’m trying to trick you into downloading a virus, I would be willing to copy & paste it online somewhere & provide a link. Just ask, if you’re interested, but I won’t be able to do it until tomorrow.

And on that note, if you can recommend any reading material that you think might open my eyes to your way of thinking, I’d be happy to read it. Fair’s fair. Just please read the whole thing (you’ll probably want to stop after the first page), and I promise to do the same (though again, I would understand if you don’t trust me).

HEY UNFAIR CAMPAIGN, THANKS FOR LETTING ME & MERV BE YOUR ONLY VOICES OF SUPPORT ON THE MOST POPULAR DISCUSSION THREAD ON THE BIGGEST LOCAL NEWSPAPER’S WEBSITE. MAYBE YOU SHOULD READ MY 200 WORD POST WHERE I MAKE FUN OF A 70 YEAR OLD MAN AND ASK YOURSELVES IF YOU REALLY WANT ME TO BE YOUR SPOKESPERSON HERE.

I understand the concept of “white privilege.” So what do they want to get out of this campaign–Whites to feel guilty or for Whites to realize how good they have it? (Try telling this to the single White mom unable to make ends meet.)

Guess what Unfair Campaign: The world is not fair. Humans are programmed to notice differences–it’s biologically a part of us and has been since the dawn of time. That doesn’t mean we should ignore the plight of our fellow human beings. But it also doesn’t mean an entire race (White) is unenlightened or ignorant. That’s racism.

For this City Administration to condone this type of very juvinile and divisive campaign is to make all of Duluth look retar*ed, This is not the way to attract any entreprenuers or business expansion. This type of publicity will only hurt Duluth.

I do not smoke dope. I do not live with my parents. And I do not own a TV, hence I don’t watch MSNBC. As for the public school system, their version of U.S. history supports a conservative agenda so I don’t know what you’re complaining about. Whether it’s the twisting of the facts about American colonization and such atrocious holidays like Thanksgiving, the hacking and slashing of public education funding, or the vilification of the liberal arts… it seems like the right-wing has been getting its way in terms of education.

Also, anybody who thinks that the corporate, commercially-funded MSNBC actually represents true left wing values is an outright fool.

I think we should all be concentrating our efforts on something more relevant. Such as, why are we still paying $3.60 a gallon at the pumps? That effects everybody, no matter the color. I am more insulted at those constant quarterly records oil companies wave in our faces! Or maybe the crazy costs of medical Insurance, car insurance, etc. Now these are issues that all Americans have to deal with. Perhaps the increased deficit in our nation’s budget or declining education? Race issues??? What race issues? Is that even in the top 20 of real concerns right now?

Merv, by your posts, it really looks like you are smoking something. 1. The idea that public schools skew conservative might be the funniest thing I have read in a long time. 2. For someone to say, in 2012, they do not own a television, is also a very laughable statement. 3. You were the first one to diss one Fox News. I had to turn around the statement to show you how foolish it really sounded.

Oh, so the globull warming propaganda and the militant feminist propaganda that found its way into my grand daughter’s 8th grade algebra book is part of the conservative agenda? I’m glad you cleared that up for us.

Merv: If you do not own a TV how can you have an intellegent opinion of what people are seeing on Fox News? Are you hanging out with people who do watch Fox News and you are watching with them? You know the truism…you are known by the company you keep.

With internet access, there is a wide variety of information at your fingertips. With TV, the information is already predetermined and pre-filtered for a mass audience. It’s the most elaborate propaganda system known to man.

MEDIA MATTERS!?!? You’re kidding, right? Do you really believe that Geo Soros is trustworthy? You would really trust a man who caused the collapse of the British pound over even one of our own domestic talking head nahtsees like Chris or Phil, or Wasserman-Schlitz? DUDE! Lay off the stupid pills, man! Yoor gonna hurt yerself.

That is a graphic comparing the number of news stories about the Kardashians (A family of reality stars) to the number of news stories about Ocean Acidification (the decrease in pH levels of Earth’s oceans) over the last year & a half.

The graphic says that there are many more news stories about the Kardashians than there are about Ocean Acidification.

Do you really think Merv is foolish to believe that there were approximately 50 stories about the Kardashians for every one about the ocean’s acidity? Do you really think that Media Matters is trying to pull one over on the public by pretending that Ocean Acidification doesn’t dominate the airwaves?

Of course you don’t really think that. Nobody thinks that. You just don’t understand the implications of the things you say. A simpler, but slightly less accurate way of saying that is: you don’t know what you are saying.

I’d like you to re-read some of the things you’ve written here. Ask yourself if your statements reflect who you are, and what you believe. You don’t even have to reply. Just think about it.

That was my case in point. I know conservatives don’t think that media matters. Apparently it’s not okay to blast Fox News unless I’m a regular TV viewer, but it is okay to blast Media Matters without any hesitation or rationale whatsoever.

And what’s up with you conservatives and your obsession with George Soros? He’s one rich guy who gave a one-time, completely transparent donation to Media Matters. What about the legions of individuals and corporations that finance the well-orchestrated messaging on Fox News, usually in secret? I guess all the big money has made it so convincing that it can’t be wrong, eh?

Soros has almost single handedly funded MM. He also nearly bankrupted the British Pound with his currency speculation. Do the research before you fawn all over this guy. He is among the most powerful, dangerous men alive. Just mentioning his name on these posts flags your comment for modification.

“What about the legions of individuals and corporations that finance the well-orchestrated messaging on Fox News, usually in secret? I guess all the big money has made it so convincing that it can’t be wrong, eh?”

End Merv quote

The legions of individuals and coporations that finance the well orchistrated messaging on Fox News are conveniently listed for all to see and hear on Fox News for about 5 minutes every 10 or 15 minutes, 24 hours a day. They get 30 seconds each to get any message they want out. Same with CNN and MSNBC.

I see lots of products on commercials. A handful of corporations. Certainly no individuals. Sure, you could probably do the research on your own to find out which corporations control which products, and which individuals control which corporations… But doing research on your own defeats the purpose of watching TV news now doesn’t it?

Hugh, as for your Soros comment, if you were genuinely against currency speculation, you would be against insider trading on the whole. But something tells me you’re not. You might actually be all for insider trading, as long as a liberal isn’t doing it. That’s the problem. That’s why I can’t get a word in edgewise with you. You don’t listen… and you certainly don’t want to find common ground. If a bunch of left-wingers come out against corporate corruption, you stand up and defend it. But if Fox News tells you that it somehow benefits the left, then you immediately change your attitude.

They’ve got you so convinced that people like ME are the enemy, and that I’M the kind of person that’s ruining the country, that you are completely ignoring the REAL cause of our economic downturn: unregulated finance.

What’s really UnFair is that publicly taxpayer funded institutions of higher learning – who are sworn to teach equality and tolerance – are supporting the targeting of 1 single race in an aggressive ad campaign that only divides our society and pits 1 race against another. This UnFair campaign is exactly the opposite of what the U of M and U of W systems are supposed to be promoting.

“Tolerance” as defined by the left does not include a tolerance of any views not in lock step with their own. If you disagree with a single one of their tenets, you are labeled as intolerant. The new “tolernace” states that all positions are equal, that no person’s opinions/beliefs are correct or incorrect, that standards of morality and behavior no longer exists because all positions are equal. You can’t eliminate standards without collapsing into anarchy, which is what I suspect the authors of the unfair campaign had in mind all along.

So what UnFair is telling me is that even though I was raised in poverty by a single mom, got our food from food banks, and wore hand-me-down clothes from neighbors and friends – I’m priviliged and I should feel shameful because my skin is white.

dmo8….guess what I grew pool also and am white. I will use every advantage and not feel an ounce of guilt. All white, just as all blacks or other races think alike. If a white dude does somethig racist, I feel no guilt. If I did something inadvertantly racist, THEN I would feel guilt. Outside of that, game on.

I am white but have a biracial family and I can tell you that this whole campaign is a bunch of cr ap! Racism is the crutch the left offers to those who refuse participate in our MIXED race society. It also allows them to appoint themselves(the left) as the protectors of the unprivileged, and thereby securing more political power. If they care so much, why don’t their wallets show it? I’d like to see how many times chancellor Black served a unprivileged family with more than just lip service? If he donates money, does it goes directly to the unprivileged, or does is go to the bureaucracy, where only a small fraction of it trickles down to actually alleviate pain? Studies have consistently shown that the more liberal you are, the less you give to charities, and the richer the liberal, the less you give. As a portion of their income, conservative poor folks give more than any other demographic group. Now THAT’S a privilege, to serve rather than be served. Did anybody get their welfare check today?

Who is white and who is black anymore? Is Obama black? His mother was white does that make him half privilaged? Blond haired blue eyed Elizabeth Warren tells the world she’s an indian. Doea that make her an indian?

If we are going to go down this route we are going to have to come up with standard genotypes for each government recognized race and have everyone’s DNA analyzed to match them to the best standard. Is that obsurd? Of cource it is. So is this campaign.

Stupid racist Facebook remarks aside, why should I give up an advantage based on perception? If someone is stupid enough to hire me over someone who is non-white who is more qualified, that is on them. I would always hire the most qualified or best suited to improve my business. I know I have advantages of being white and I use them. Just like if I was more qualified and someone non-white got the job because of affermative action. I am not angry at the less qualified person, they are just using an advantage. Conversely, if you dress and act a certain way, expect to be treated a certain way. If two non-white job seekers came to me and one had a shirt and tie and one had droopy pants, but droopy pants guy was a little more qualified, there is a good chance I am still picking shirt and tie guy. And as far as people looking at you when you enter a room, yes I know the feeling, like when I am the only white guy at a party or gathering. One time I got asked to leave beacause they assumed I was an undercover police officer. Granted, being up North it does not happen that much, but that is more society. More often that not there is mistrust among groups of people, especially race wise. That is somewhat normal. If you watch Fox news, they are constantly discussing that white Christians are dicriminated and treated differently. Laura Ingrim was ranting last night about that on O’reilly. Every group feels other groups are out to get them. As the late Rodney King said “Can’t we all get alnong”

While I respect the work that has gone into this project, the use of such loaded and blunt terms not only drives many Caucasians away, but drives a new resentment among those Caucasians who have devoted much of their lives to combat homophobia, racism and sexism. As much as whites have been a part of the problems in terms of ‘passive-aggressive racism’, they’ve also been right there to mentor youth and volunteer their time and really go the distance for others who need help.

Personally, I have never found a friendlier, accepting community than Duluth. I’m gay; I came out in grade 9. I had fears of all kinds of horrible things happening to me. While there are some ignorant people, they were outnumbered by KIND and empathetic people – while they weren’t gay, this is my point: they did the best they could to make me feel welcome in Duluth. Now that I’m the adult, I’m motivated to do that for someone someday. Feeling included and welcome in a community goes way beyond race (it’s religion, sexual orientation, immigrant status, etc), these groups contain many white people who feel left out and isolated also. I agree that we are an invisible minority and non-whites don’t get the luxury of blending in because of skin color.

But read my example and think to yourselves…you go so much further when you help or make someone feel included because its the right thing to do, not because of obligation or guilt. When I look back on those years of my life I believe I had support and mentors because I was willing to listen, I was raised to respect adults and had a good attitude. Teens – whether gay, black, immigrant, whatever – know when you’re just being nice to them out of obligation. Let’s work on developing social skills so we can talk to each other! One skill I learned early on was, underneath our individual identities, we have at least one common passion (sports, news, same hometown, love for pets, etc). If you can find that one common link then you don’t need these workshops because you forget your differences. I’m living proof that I found acceptance at a critical time in my life from people I least expected. Just my thoughts.

The thing is that many of the folks behind this campaign, as well as the folks with PETA, (and well… you fill in the blank) aren’t working FOR something, they just need to be AGAINST something. The people you met, who accepted you, were for treating others the way they wanted to be treated. They may have not understood your perspective (replace with race, religion, sexual orientation, etc.), but they accepted that you are a good person, and that was good enough. If folks lived by the original ‘golden rule’, treat others as you’d have them treat you, a great number of these hate-mongers would have to get real jobs and quit nursing off the taxpayers and extremists donations. For many, that would be the end of the ‘good life’.

Tell the poor caucasian guy who has two kids, none — if not, little, health care, behind in his mortgage or rent, a wife barely working, if at all, and a part time / near minimum wage job — yeah, he’s privileged all right….idiots.

Would you be willing to ad the likes of race-baiters Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, and Jeremiah Wright to your beatdown list? In case you haven’t been paying attention, Caucasians don’t hold a monopoly on racism, yet the UnFair campaign only targets them.

I am a white person, and I choose to understand this campaign’s message. Just open up an American history book, and you’ll clearly see how the oppression of non-white people is fundamentally rooted in our country. Now look at the income and education statistics since then… It’s naive, at best, to claim that everybody is on an even playing field now, just a handful of generations after the American Indian genocide, African slavery, and Manifest Destiny.

In today’s society, nobody can take advantage of you without your permission, tacitly expressed, or otherwise. It’s high time people started taking responsibility for their own decisions and took control of their own lives. Yes, the choices might be easier when you think of yourself as a victim, but the life is that of of victim, not that of a man.

That’s fantastic rhetoric Hugh… but what does it mean in a practical situation? Of course every man controls their own life. That’s empty language. What are you actually talking about? Access to employment? Access to decent housing? Access to justice? Without any actual application, your right-wing talking points are devoid of substance.

It sounds like you are saying that minorities are incapable of getting ahead on their own. The deck is stacked against them. You know what, THAT’S Racist. Every group of humans has a pool of talent inside that is capable of anything. Whether that group decides to suppress that talent or make use of it is the difference.

Why can an Asian family come into a Black neighborhood, open a convenience store on their own, and make out pretty well, while no one from the Black community is stepping forward to do the same thing. There must be a need there. In Washington DC, Marion Berry practically begged black businesses to open and displace these merchants and it hasn’t happened yet. Not even with offers of government money to help it happen.

As for things being much more level 1950-1980, remember Jim Crow, Alabama in the early 60’s, separate toilets, separate water fountains, “This establishment reserves the right to refuse service to anyone.”, “Colored Only”, the Black travel guides, the back of the bus? Those were all part of that era. I call BS. Those days are gone, at least around here. Good Riddins.

As for the countries you say are better, I’ve been to most of them. You know what? They aren’t. Many of them work very hard to stifle individual talent and opportunity.

Austrailia is most like us, sort of a frontier society. Good luck being an Asian there, though.

Europe legislates equal outcome. The problem is that those that have resent being taxed to equality and either give up or leave. They are running out of money to keep this Ponzi scheme up.

Northeast Asia? Come on. Factory workers and subsistence farmers if you are talking China. There aren’t enough people in Siberia to matter.

Canada is less government controlled than Europe, though that fluctuates. While Canadian Natives (First Nations) are given lots of good lip service, their lot in life is really pretty much the same as Natives in the USA.

You seem to forget the importance of role models in people’s lives. Nobody is born lazy. If you happen to be born into an upstanding family, then you’re likely going to turn out upstanding yourself. But if you’re born into a family in poverty, there are fewer people to turn to. You don’t grow up thinking about having a salary job with retirement benefits, etc. because the people around you don’t have those things.

And you’re wrong… it is a race thing, because blacks and American Indians are disproportionally poor. Well jee, why is that? If you’re 40, your grandma’s grandma could have been a slave… or executed. Nobody’s saying that’s your fault, because it’s not. But it is a reality that these ethnicities are poorer because they’ve been raised poor, and they’ve been raised poor because of their ancestors’ unfortunate history. And it’s ignorant to assume that it doesn’t take money to make money. This is all the Unfair campaign is trying to address.

“You seem to forget the importance of role models in people’s lives.” EXACTLY! So tell us, where are those roll models in the urban black family? Resident fathers are THE major roll models for young men, but they are sadly absent in a majority of families today. And that absence is epidemic among blacks. What kind of roll model is a 25 year old black man who has fathered 8 kids from 5 women and spends his nights selling dope on the corner and sleeping all day? Bill Cosby has been excoriated for daring to hold the black man accountable to his family. Now you complain about roll models while ignoring the lack of them in the black family? Men draw a tremendous amount of self esteem from what the do for a living(something a cellar dweller might be unfamiliar with?) The past 50 years of welfare deprived several generations of black of that self esteem builder by its institutional warehousing of minorities in ghettos like Cabrini Green.
I grew up without a father, and in dire poverty. It taught me the benefits of hard work, that if I applied myself, I could escape the bonds that held me down. And I did it without a mentor. So, what is your excuse for your failure to perform? A little THC?

Merv said: You seem to forget the importance of role models in people’s lives. Nobody is born lazy. If you happen to be born into an upstanding family, then you’re likely going to turn out upstanding yourself. But if you’re born into a family in poverty, there are fewer people to turn to. You don’t grow up thinking about having a salary job with retirement benefits, etc. because the people around you don’t have those things.

And you’re wrong… it is a race thing, because blacks and American Indians are disproportionally poor. Well jee, why is that? If you’re 40, your grandma’s grandma could have been a slave… or executed. Nobody’s saying that’s your fault, because it’s not. But it is a reality that these ethnicities are poorer because they’ve been raised poor, and they’ve been raised poor because of their ancestors’ unfortunate history. And it’s ignorant to assume that it doesn’t take money to make money. This is all the Unfair campaign is trying to address.

End Merv quote.

When my grandparents arrived here they were dirt poor, putting everything they had into the trip. It took three generations to get where I am today, each a little better off than the last one. They were just poor, dumb Finlanders. Later my grandfather was black-listed from the mines and had to live on a subsistence farm, where the main crop was rocks, for many years. They didn’t even speak the local language at first, but you know what, they got ahead on their own and by banding together with others in a similar situation.

They did not just accept that things were always going to be that way. After the depression things got a little better. My dad grew up dirt poor but had no thought of accepting it as his lot in life.

They couldn’t go to the bank and get a loan either. They all pooled their meager resources and dug themselves out, forming credit unions and co op stores.

Now I will grant that in your favorite period, 1950 to 1980, Blacks faced a lot of institutionalized challenges. Those are largely gone now, at least around here. What else changed was the Great Society in the late 1960’s. The biggest outcome of that failed utopian experiment was that poor urban fathers were relieved of the need to see to the needs of their families. Government did this instead. Government even discouraged the father from sticking around by cutting or denying welfare benefits if he was there. The lot of poor urban families has gone downhill steadily since. That’s the kind of thing that happens when you try to equalize outcomes.

It would have been interesting to see what would have happened in the cities if the restrictions on blacks were removed and the Great Society’s welfare system never happened.

I don’t buy that the talent isn’t there in any ethnic group. The will may be lacking, but certainly the raw talent is there.

…still making excuses and blaming others for you inability to perform, eh? What a miserable life you must live, always looking to blame others for your own short comings. In an earlier post on this thread you said….” I understand…” but you clearly don’t. If you understood anything, you’d see that your failure to accept responsibility for your actions is what’s keeping to in the basement. You put you in the basement, nobody else. And it is you who is the only person who can get you out of the basement. You can languish in self pity, or you can move on.

You are really starting to irritate me again. Six months ago you irritated me for different reasons but now I come back and you’re like all different and whatnot, I find myself agreeing with most things you say. I’ve been just watching and simmering here, waiting for you to step out of line so we could get it on again but you’ve been being have. I can’t determine if six months ago or now is more irritating to me, lol. You weren’t supposed to change, dammit.

No, not a skinhead. Not quite that shaved. Just as short as the clippers go. I cannot stand hair anymore so I decided to just keep it as short as possible. I don’t lead a high profile life so I don’t need to be fashionable, just comfortable.

History is the past. We learn from it, we don’t necessarily continue it. When there was slavery in this country my great grandparents were cutting down trees to make a farm in Finland. I feel no obligation to what happened 150 years ago here.

When there was the Indian Genocide, my grandparents hadn’t even come here yet.

When half the kids of one minority drop out of high school, that’s not an education problem. When the other half are criticized by the others for being “Uncle Toms” for trying to succeed in life, that’s not an education problem.

The fact that some who choose to play by the basic rules of society do succeed and some even do quite well points to a basic underlying problem with that group of society. It’s almost as if they don’t want success. Have they been brainwashed by their leaders that they can’t succeed?

America is a land of equal opportunity, not a land of equal outcome. The playing field may not be dead flat level, but it is far leveler than anywhere else in the world or at any time in history.

If we had equal opportunity, then we would have more equal outcomes. In time, America had much more equal opportunities between 1950-80 than it does today. In space, the USA is far less equal in terms of both opportunity and outcome than most of Europe, northeast Asia, Australia, and Canada.

Now I’m beginning to believe you are just plain braindead. There is no such thing as an equal outcome(as you would define it), and there never has been. By definition, and equal outcome means that the input determines the outcome. But you want to negate the input portion of the equation. You want a result that is the same regardless of the input. For someone who pretends to be learned, yoo shure iz stoopid.

“If we had equal opportunity, then we would have more equal outcomes” —- WE DO!!! Everyone is offered a FREE high school education. Colleges award extra “points” to minorities on their application for admission because they like to be as diverse as possible. So in reality, whites kind of have a disadvantage to getting into college compared to Blacks. But for some reason many Blacks decline the free high school diploma we are offering them. That comes from within the individual households, and the mentality of the culture as a whole.

Merv..I think most people do not think there is a level playing field. There absolutly is not. Whether your white or black or rich or poor the field will not be level. The only color that really matters is green. Who do you think has better advantages, my kids or someone like Will Smith kids? White people are the majority (for now) in this country. I think a bigger issue than race is cultural differences. Race is very realtive. Also, if choose to live in Mexico or China, do you not think people would stare at you? Or have sterotypes? Does that make Mexicans or Chineese racists. As a white person walk down a big city in a non-white low income neighborhood and see what happens. A lot of it is just misunderstanding the needs and wants of each other. Let’s for the sake of arguement take what is said by the campaign. I have an unfair advantatge. Ok. Is it white peoples jobs to fix the po’ black folks? To me that is racist by saying now-whites cannot fix their problems. What should be done? What does the campagn ultimatly want? Recognition? Ok you got it. People who look like me of share a common heritage feel more comfortable around me. AND?

Merv-
Why is it that Asians have the highest high school graduation rate at 80%, followed by Whites at 78%, and then Hispanics and Blacks are tied at only 57% (source: USNews)? EVERYONE is offered a FREE high school education, but why are almost half of Blacks turning it down? Also, Asians are by far the race with the highest college degree rate at 50%. Why isn’t UnFair targeting Asians with their obvious “Asian Privilege”? It’s blatantly obvious that there’s a disconnect in the Black culture regarding the value of education. Asians are a minority, face the same obstacles as Blacks, but they are thriving in America. To simply point fingers and say “Whites have it easy, that’s why I’m failing” is being lazy and ignorant. The Black culture is failing as a culture. Highest prison population of any race, highest single mother households of any race, and lowest education level of any race is a recipe for failure. All 3 of these things are personal decisions, once again EVERYONE is offered a FREE high school education. There’s no excuse for 43% of Blacks not getting a diploma.

You’re citing statistics, but you’re just inventing justifications that fit with your beliefs. People have studied the causes of those things for years. If you really want to know why blacks have the “highest prison population of any race,” do some research. The answers to your questions & the solutions to the problems you talk about are complicated. They can’t just be explained in a 2-paragraph post on a message board.

In retrospect, I’m sorry for writing this post. “Do some research” is an intellectually lazy response, particularly when I know how frustrating it is to receive vague or illogical answers to serious questions.

I don’t know the causes behind those statistics, and I shouldn’t pretend to. I gave you a lazy, thoughtless answer, and for what it’s worth, I apologize.

This is what happens when left wing, socialist nutjobs have excess grant money, and too much time on their hands. Make a productive difference…go clean up the zoo, or any of the 50 miles of flood-beaten roads in Duluth.

Today, driving by M&H on Superior St, AT WORK, I see 2 black dudes strutting down the street holding on to their pants which are half way down their thigh, on purpose, hat on crooked, talking on a cell phone and staring me down as I drive by at 2 pm. Fairly confident they weren’t on their way to work? I see this EVERY day, what a racist, filthy, uneducated, white bigot I am for not loving and embracing these fine upstanding gentlemen as I would my very own brother. Go to hell “unfair campaign”, I’ve worked for every single thing I have. Go check out some of the “Indian privilege” threads on here, if they decide to go to school, it’s handed to them on a silver platter, along with everything else. That’s privilege. Had I worked a little harder, maybe I could have gotten some of that “united white college fund”, oh wait? Maybe if one less disadvantaged minority kid would have applied to the college I wanted to go to, I could have gone, considering I was ranked higher and tested higher than them? Maybe if a couple less blacks would have applied for the police department I would have gotten the job, even though I out-tested all of them? These are hypothetical, but those on the receiving end of these “programs” are the privileged.

Strange….I think I saw the same two men in the TC’s today. They walked right out into traffic as if daring me to run into them. I didn’t slow down at all. I made them run a little with their pants hanging below their butts. I don’t care about the color of a person’s skin. It’s their attitude that is the deciding factor for me.

The fine liberals at UMD see the same thing and think the same thoughts. But unlike you and me these thoughts give them a crisis of guilt. Repeat this day after day and the guilt erupts in the “we are not worthy” campaign.

While I’m sure this whole campaign was well intended, it had a huge fault from that start. You can’t start a good dialog with the premise that “it’s all your fault” that I’m where I am.

The vast majority of people in our country are good people and putting them on the defensive when they personally haven’t done anything wrong does nothing to help eliminate racism and certainly gives fodder and traction to those few truly racist elements among us.

Because exposing and eliminating racism makes our society better. It’s one thing to say that their methods suck, or that they’re not accomplishing their goals. It’s another to accuse them of harboring secret, malicious intentions. Reading the comments here, you’d think that this whole thing is just one big conspiracy to make white people feel bad about themselves.

Like Jessica, I would love it if this campaign could’ve spread their message while offending only the serious, dedicated racists out there. But I don’t know how to organize that kind of campaign, so I’m not going to nitpick.

I don’t think anybody has said or is implying that there’s anything malicious or sinister going on. What I think people are saying is that those behind this charade are incredibly, incomprehensibly bad at what they do.

You’re right Vune…..spot on right. There is nothing that creates righteous indignation better and faster than accusing somebody of something they personally aren’t (or even just feel they aren’t) guilty of.

Maybe I’m naive, but I choose to believe the “unfair campaign” promoters have good motives, but I’d be pretty hard pressed to have come up with a more counter productive strategy.

As I stated before, the absolutely worst way to start any good dialog with someone you have differences with it to start your conversation with “It’s all your fault”. Even if you truly feel it is all “their fault”…you’re not likely to get anywhere you’d like to go with that attitude.

Perhaps highlighting those different that us who have been successful and accomplished good things in and around our community might be a better way to turn on the light for many who aren’t racists at all…..but simply unaware of how people of all races have contributed valuable things to our community. You only accept negative racial stereotypes when all you are aware of are those that practice those negative stereotypes….and let’s face it, all races contain some that practice them as an art form unfortunately.

Jessica, you’re not listening to what I’m saying, you’re not listening to what the Unfair Campaign is saying, and in a way, you’re not really listening to what YOU are saying.

As an example: You say you’d be hard pressed to have come up with a more counter productive strategy. But you’ve already come up with a much more counter productive strategy.

So far, their most well-heard slogan is: “It’s hard to see racism when you’re white.”

But the slogan that you hear, and that you repeat, is: “Racism: IT’S ALL YOUR FAULT.”

Those are two completely different messages, and they don’t mean the same thing.

I’m not going to sugarcoat my words just because you think that’s the best way to start a good dialogue. If you choose to ignore the truth just because you disagree with the people who are telling it, then racism is not your biggest problem.

You say “Perhaps highlighting those different that us who have been successful and accomplished good things in and around our community might be a better way to turn on the light for many who aren’t racists at all.” We don’t need a campaign to do that. Those people are everywhere. If YOU don’t see them, it’s because you’re not paying attention.

You say “You only accept negative racial stereotypes when all you are aware of are those that practice those negative stereotypes.” You might not realize it, but you’ve taken a first step. You’ve admitted (accidentally) that you accept negative racial stereotypes, and that you blame the people you’re stereotyping.

I feel like I’ve made my point, so now I’m going to try to be nice for a bit. Please don’t interpret my words as sarcasm, and don’t be insulted if I’m wrong. I don’t know you, I only know the words that you’ve posted on this message board.

I think you’re an honest and good person who tries to do the right thing most of the time. I also think you have no idea how difficult it is to be a minority in this community. Maybe you have friends who are minorities, but I doubt you ever talk about racial issues.

If I’m wrong, I’m wrong. There’s no reason for you to feel bad just because some jerk said something mean to you on the internet. But if I’m right (and to be clear, IGNORE THE REST OF THIS MESSAGE IF I’M WRONG), maybe you could have a conversation about racial issues with one of your friends, co-workers, or someone in your church. I’m confident that you’ll make someone feel better about themselves, and there’s no bad reason to do that.

“If you choose to ignore the truth just because you disagree with the people who are telling it, then racism is not your biggest problem.”

Oof. This is why I should proofread. That sentence is awful.

What I meant to say is something like this: Truth is truth, no matter who is saying it or how they’re saying it. If something is true, an adult should be able to recognize that, even if the person is being mean.

As a European-American I am sorry that I work hard and do not rely on handouts. Darn this skin color! I bust my ivory colored butt every day…and for what!?! Those light colored ancestors of mine certainly did not raise me right as I could have sat back, collected benefits and blamed others for my non-desire to work hard for my own well being.

That was my first and only thought about it. A rather transparent, obvious, juvenile and entirely predictable attempt to pretend this campaign has some legitimacy and some need to exist. But watch the media weep and wail over it with feigned indignance, especially the News Tribune and their lefty 20-somethings. They’ll whip this up into a frenzy in no time, I guarantee it, because they’ll read about it on Facebook and Twitter and think that makes it legitimate news.

It would be cynical to thing their own campaign painted on the sign but it isn’t out of the question when a majority of people in the city are offended by this campaign and they are losing their argument. However we all are grown ups and know their is racism amongst us,both by white.black,red and yellow people. Just take the signs down and stop this ridiculous premise that whites are priviledged. We are all Americans and are priviledged.

Duluth, long ago a fur trading camp, population native Indians and a few white trappers, time passes then logging and mining. Most all these jobs filled by Scandinavia decedents, not to forget Serbs, Italians, Germans and a number of other white heritage groups. Never in my history lessons do I recall Slaves being used by any company or land baron. U.S. steel builds a plant in Morgan Park and from my understanding a few U.S. citizens of the black heritage group come to Duluth to work at this facility. Duluth population I guess 100,000, population other than white heritage I would guess less than a handful. Flash forward 1985 I think I read in the Trib, Duluth black heritage population at about 350. Now flash forward to 2009.
White alone – 77,184 (89.5%)
Two or more races – 2,441 (2.8%)
Black alone – 1,955 (2.3%)
American Indian alone – 2,011 (2.3%)
Asian alone – 1,287 (1.5%)
Hispanic – 1,305 (1.5%)
Other race alone – 54 (0.06%)
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone – 28 (0.03%)

So I do not see this as a white privilege it is just the white heritage has been the group of majority that has built the northland to what it is, good or bad. This would be no different than white heritage individual moving to Nigeria to set up roots.
Would your 80 year old Grandmother not get a few stares if she went to a RAP concert?
Why focus on the negative side always, focus on the positive it surely will travel a lot further. All I read is how bad Duluth is for what a group I nor any of my relatives happen to be part of did in 1920. Tell me about Alexander Miles, this is a positive.
Why is it there is no reference to what those of Finnish heritage endured, heard of Finnish immigrant Ollie Kinkkonen?
Again I say, let us focus on the positive, we as a society will be a lot further ahead.

This was so predictable it makes your head spin. Even the quotes in the story. In fact, you or I or anybody else could’ve written that story a week ahead of time (hmm…naaaa). I have $20 that says nobody will be caught. For an extra $20, guess why.

As I was reading the posts I was shaking my head the whole time. Totally clueless and racist describes the majority of the posts. Oh, lot’s of wailing and nonsense of how po’ po’ whites feel so put off by this cuz golly gee…they aren’t racist and there’s jus no such darn thing as WSP…

WSP is about the brainwashing and social programming that whites are conditioned with and big surprise, a key element of that social programming is that you don’t see it because it’s been there your whole lifes, it’s your reality. All the campaign is trying to educate you about is exactly that, that there is social programming that goes on that you can’t see because are white. It’s not about white guilt, it’s not about you being racist, though most here clearly are, it’s about how things are manipulated in this society. Now if stopped with the denial and all the false assumptions for just one moment and stopped and thought…if there was something that was manipulating this society through false images pitting one American against the other…wouldn’t you want to know more about that? But instead most seem content to just bury their heads in the sand or some darker place.

I too will say that maybe that is how the campaign should have started though explaining the social programming but I don’t disagree with the message and despite all the rallying against it and trying to dismiss it, it is nonetheless a truism and statement of fact. It’s a tough one for whites to accept because again, you’ve been conditioned your whole life with it…if you’re white you aren’t on the receiving end.

I expect at this point to have the same backlash of denial, dismissal and whining the campaign has received but before you rush off a post claiming there’s no such thing as WSP and no such thing as being conditioned and programmed…let me point out while the vast majority here have already done that …the majority of posts while fighting to vehemently deny WSP and racism are in themselves peppered with proof of racism and social conditioning and clearly there are only two options which is either some of you here are here to support racism or you don’t even see racism when is right in front of you which is exactly the point of the campaign that clearly most of you don’t get.

I scanned thru all the posts and for all the denial about WSP and dismissal of racism when referring to Blacks the tally of comments is this…

Blacks as Ignorant or stupid- 4 comments
Blacks as being on Welfare- 7 comments
Blacks as lazier then whites- 15 comments
Portrayal of Blacks as thugs, drug dealer or more violent-12 comments
In addition to welfare/lazy, that Blacks are unemployed- 5 comments
No surprise of course that there are 32 comments denying there’s racism or such a thing as WSP while most of those in same posts were putting forth a black stereotype listed above…

The summation of the posts is nothing more then white portrayals of black racist stereotypes from they’re all lazy and on welfare and don’t work to afraid of them to wishing them harm to the classic that it’s all their own fault.

But of course, there’s no such thing as WSP….and there’s no racism anymore…and none of you been conditioned by it and you all would know because are white and you just don’t see any signs of it…and apparently not even when it’s on your own monitor while typing it.

fastone – I read the same articles and didn’t see a single one that said “blacks are lazy”. But I’ll bite anyways. Answer me this simple question: If EVERYONE is offered a FREE high school education, why is it that 80% of Asians graduate, 78% of Whites graduate, but only 57% of Blacks graduate? Surely you must have an answer that blames Whites for the continued mass denial of a free education by Blacks.

Seriously Mike, do you really believe that the school system gives everyone an equal opportunity? Have you ever heard anyone talk about how differently students from Duluth East are treated than students from other schools?

Seriously, Vune, are you aware of how many special programs and extra help minority students get these days? How many “integration specialists” or “diversity counselors” does one school district need? No, the schools don’t give every student an equal opportunity. They’re heavily slanted toward helping anyone who isn’t white.

Oh please. I grew up white and I know exactly how hard we have it. If you can’t acknowledge the numerous advantages we have, even as someone who was lived through the civil rights movement, then you’re blind.

Mike~ “I read the same articles and didn’t see a single one that said “blacks are lazy”. ”

Of course you didn’t and the point of campaign is what? SMH!!

Of course I know what part of problem is with education system just like I know your mind was closed and made up on this topic by your implication before you even turned on puter. How about you first since brought it up, why don’t you explain why you think that there is higher drop out rates among black students then white, you clearly are projecting you have some insight and knowledge and you’ve already sarcastically implied I don’t know what talking about before even chance to answer…so would love to hear it…Please explain.

.

Now as stated this also applies to whites in poor neighboorhoods but we still have a highly segregated society and obviously the blacks on percentage basis have far more below poverty line and are living hence in poorer neighborhoods which nets inferior school systems. There is then the expense of college which even with scholarships is

“If EVERYONE is offered a FREE high school education, why is it that 80% of Asians graduate, 78% of Whites graduate, but only 57% of Blacks graduate?”

Perhaps it has to do with systemic poverty. (*Well then why are blacks disproportionately in poverty?*) Perhaps it has to do with the fact that they’re only 3 to 6 generations away from their enslaved ancestors. It takes money to make money… more money, more opportunities. And this has very little do with race. If you were born poor, then statistically, you will most likely stay poor. Likewise, if you’re born in the middle or upper class, then statistically, you will stay there as well – regardless of your color. These are the facts. “Rags to riches” cases make up a tiny, tiny percentage of poor people’s experiences. Yet most of the right-wing regulars would have you believe that anybody can become Bill Gates or Will Smith. That’s only true if you IGNORE the facts.

It also ignores the fact that many right-wingers are trying to eliminate public education altogether. I’ve heard many Republicans say that all schools should be privatized… meaning, you need to pay… meaning, poor people won’t receive it. Think this is ridiculous? Look up Chile.

So yes, everybody has access to a high school education… But Republicans are actively trying to take that away. I hate it when you tea partiers use something as a justification for something else, whether its free education, clean air, a minimum wage, labor laws… yet you are trying to get rid of those things at the same time.

I’m six generations away from enslaved ancestors, and I’m as white as they come. And mine were treated as badly or worse than any black slave in America. “Boo hoo, my ancestors were slaves.” You know what? I don’t care. Not a single bit. Never did and never will.

You’re EXACTLY the kind of liberal who’s responsible for keeping blacks and other minorities from making any progress. You tell them that because they’re born into poverty they’ll never amount to anything. What the hell kind of thing is that to tell someone? But it’s what liberals continually drum into their heads. They can’t succeed and they never will, so just vote for Democrats and they’ll have handouts for life. I can’t think of too many things more cruel than to strip someone of their will to succeed, but that’s what people like you do.

DanH… Give me ONE example of something someone born into poverty can do to “succeed” as you put it, in this trickle-down, outsource-every-job, b.s. economy. ONE example. How can someone pull themselves up by their bootstraps? Just one!! If it’s really not that hard, you shouldn’t have a hard time coming up with one.

Education? What if you can’t get a loan anywhere? You might claim it’s free if you’re poor enough, but that’s far from the truth. Start a business? Definitely can’t get a loan. In fact, all of the people I know who are born into poverty ARE hard working.. often 2 or 3 jobs!! But the only real jobs available pay no higher than $8, 9, 10 dollars an hour. If it were really as easy to just “become successful” if you wanted to, then people would be doing it.

So I ask again… ONE example. If you can’t give one, then your whole worldview is f—-ed!

There’s your problem. You expect it to be easy to become successful. You think success is a right or an entitlement and if someone can’t instantly become successful, the rest of us owe them a living.

We both know you’ll disregard anything I suggest, so as briefly as possible here are some ideas: graduate from high school, where you’ll learn to read and write in English; go to college, community college, a trade school or the military (you’ll learn a trade there); get a job, or two or three jobs, work hard and learn what the phrase “work ethic” means; don’t make babies you can’t afford to feed.

We’re not splitting the atom here. To most people this is common sense stuff.

You’ve proven my point, Dan. Even if you don’t have kids, you still need to work multiple jobs, no overtime, no benefits (or join the military) just to get by. Not save up money… not invest in anything. Just enough to get by. And that’s the point.

Get out of the 1960s. All the work ethic in the world doesn’t make any difference if the only places hiring are the Gap and Burger King. Tens of millions of Americans are stuck in the low wage trap through little fault of their own, and that number is growing every day because conservatives like you refuse to face reality. Unless you were born wealthy, or if your family “knows somebody” who can help you out, you’re basically screwed. The opportunities that existed in your day, that you still benefit from today, have all but vanished entirely. Rising inequality… coddling big bankers and major corporations… this is the real class warfare! And until people like you change your tune and actually LISTEN to the people you claim to be helping, you’re only making it worse.

Oh, forgot to add that despite being late in thread that there were 10 comments regarding the spray painting of billboard trying not only to dismiss and deny that could have been white racist but covering for them by trying to misdirect it and place the blame on the unfair campaign that they must have done it to give themselves credence forgawdsakes. Some of you are working way too hard to try to dismiss this incident and the unfair campaign …almost like it’s your job to do so…mmmm. Must be just a coincidence that also worked so hard to defend the hired gun activist for the Youth for Western Civilization last year and bashed on and crucified the black student when YWC hired the activist to instigate an incident and YWC is funded by and founded by a white supremacist group. Just coincidence also that are also same ones the for years here tried darnest to paint all the crime in Duluth in Blackface also…